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Wendy’s continues to be in the sights of a human-rights organization seeking to end what it
calls the exploitation of workers who pick tomatoes in Florida.

For more than a decade, the Dublin-based fast-food company has declined to join the Fair Food
program, saying all of its Florida tomato suppliers already belong to the program designed to
ensure fair wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers. Wendy’s is the sole Fair Food
holdout among the nation’s top five fast-food companies.

“Our position has been clear and consistent,” said Wendy’s spokesman Bob Bertini. “Our suppliers
are already participating in the program,” which also supports a code of conduct for suppliers,
worker education, a complaint-resolution system, health and safety committees, and a mechanism to
audit farms for program compliance.

Wendy’s biggest fast-food competitors — McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King and Yum Brands, parent
of Taco Bell — have joined the program. They pledge, among other things, to pay an additional penny
per pound for Florida-grown tomatoes so field workers get paid a little bit more.

Fair Food supporters say Wendy’s lack of commitment to their program makes it look as if the
company is part of the problem: multibillion-dollar retail brands that use their size to demand
lower prices, resulting in falling farm-worker wages.

“Wendy’s must support modern and humane working conditions for those who work in its supply
chain,” said Santiago Perez, a Florida tomato picker who visited Columbus in mid-December to
participate in a protest outside Wendy’s new flagship restaurant in Dublin.

While Wendy’s celebrated the opening of the restaurant at 4555 W. Dublin-Granville Rd. with
executives, managers, community leaders and friends that day, about 100 faith leaders and concerned
consumers picketed outside with Perez.

“We’re here to send a message to Wendy’s to do the right thing,” Jessica Shimberg, associate
chaplain of a Jewish congregation at Ohio Wesleyan University, said during the protest.

Since 2001, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has worked mostly with people of faith, students
and young people nationwide to win respect for workers from some of the largest corporations in the
world.

Last week, Wal-Mart became the 12th company to join the Fair Food program. Among members of the
program are grocers Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s, food-service companies Aramark and Sodexo,
as well as fast-casual restaurant chain Chipotle.

Wendy’s agrees with most of the Fair Food tenets. “The only thing we have not done is agree to
the additional penny charge per pound of tomatoes,” Bertini said. Wendy’s believes it already pays
a premium for its Florida tomatoes because of their high quality, he said.

“The reason that we haven’t (done so) is we do not think it is appropriate for us to pay
employees who work for our suppliers. We’re not their employer,” Bertini said.